Albeet siohel



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT SIOHEL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CAPSULES.

SPECIFICATION forming p'art of Letters Patent No. 257,090, dated Apiil25, 1882.

Application filed November 30, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT StoHEL, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in theManufacture of Metallic Capsules, of which the following'is aspecification.

Metallic capsules are made usually from soft or ductile metal-such, forinstance, as tinfoil, or foil produced by rolling into sheets of properthickness ingots having a lead coreand tin exterior.

I remark at the outset that it is essential that capsules should haveslightly-tapered sides, to enable them to be easily fitted upon thenecks of bottles, &c., and also to permit them to be nested and broughtcompactly within small compass for shipment and transportation.

It has been customary heretofore, so far as I am aware, to producemetallic capsules of this kind in one of three ways. They have been spunon a lathe; but this process is slow and expensive as well. They havealso been produced by a punching operation; but this mode of making themis disadvantageous, inasmuch as only shallow caps-say not exceedingthrec-eighths to o'ne-half of an inch deepcan thereby be produced, andthe caps are defective in that their sides are considerably thinner thantheir tops or ends. By still another method they have been produced bythe successive action of a series of dies and punches;

but this method is complicated and troublesome, requiring, as it does,the employment of a number'of interdependent dies and punches. Themachinery, moreover, is very expensive, and much time is consumed insetting and adjusting the dies.

It is my object to produce tapered metallic capsules in a simpler, moreeffective, and more economical way than is practicable under either ofthe above-mentioned methods.

To this end I have devised an improvement in the art of manufacturingmetallic capsules which involves two steps. The first step is to form acylindrical or straight-sided cap-blank from a disk or blank of foilmaterial by the conjoint action of a die in which the disk is placed anda cylindrical plunger brought forcibly to bear upon that disk with theeffect of squeezing out a portion of the metal so that it shall run upbetween the sides of the die and plun- (No model.)

capsule in which the metal is distributed so that the sides and top orend shall be practically of the same thickness. The mechanism employedis inexpensive and free from complication, and the capsules can be maderapidly and economically.

My improvement will be readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which I have represented so much of themachinery employed as needed for the purpose of explaining my invention.

In Figure 1 is represented diagrammatically in section the cylindricaldie B and cylindrical plunger A, used to produce the cylindrical orstraight-sided cap.

In Fig. 2 is shown at O, in plan and side elevation, the soft-metal diskor blank to be acted on. This disk is placed in the die, and the plungeris then brought down upon it with force. The effect will be to squeezeout from beneath the plunger a portion of the metal which will run upbetween the sides of the plunger and die, and upon the plunger, so as toform a straight-sided or cylindrical cap, as indicated at C, Fig. 1. Theplunger is then lifted and the cylindrical cap stripped from it. Thelatter is shown separately in side elevation at 0, Fig. 3. Its open endis as large, or nearly as large, in diameter as is required for the openend of the tapered finished cap. I then give the cylindrical cap 0 therequisite taper by forcing it down in a taperingdie,D, (showndiagrammatically in connection with its pluugerE in Fig. 4.) The mouthor open end of the die is about of the diameter of the top or closed endof the cap C. It thence gradually decreases in diameter downward untilit is of a size to fit snugly around the. spring-upheld follower D,which forms the bottom of the die. That portion of the plunger E whichenters the die is of a size and taper to fit the die, its lower endbeing of the same size as the upper end.

of follower D. The cap 0 is placed open end upward in the die D, restingon the end of follower D, and the plunger E is then brought down, so asto enter the cap and clamp it upon the head of the follower, asindicated in Fig. 4. The plunger continues to descend until it is forcedhome in the die, pushing before it the follower D against the stress ofits spring D By the action of these devices the diameter of the head orclosed end of the capsule is decreased, and its sides are tapered andslightly elongated, as indicated in Fig. 4 at 0 This operation concludesthe process, and the capsule when removed will have the form shown at Cin Fig.5, which is a side elevation of the completed article.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

The improvement in the art of manufacturing metallic capsules, whichconsistsin first producing a cylindrical cap from a soft-metal blank bythe conjoint action of a die and plunger, by which the disk is pressedor squeezed, substantially in the manner described, and then subjectingthis cap to the action of a tapering die and plunger, by which said capis pressed into the form of a tapering capsule, substantially as and forthe purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this'28th day ofNovember, 1881.

A. G. HOTGHKISS, HENRY KRAHE.

